At Least 17 Dead in Kyrgyzstan Bus Fire

Published 3:05 pm, Monday, April 25, 2016

A double-decker bus headed to China crashed and caught fire in southeastern Kyrgyzstan on Thursday, killing at least 17 people, officials said. A news report said 40 people were killed.

Russia's ITAR-Tass news agency, citing the Kyrgyz Emergencies and Ecology Ministry, said the driver lost control of the bus, which went over a cliff and caught fire.

The Chinese-owned bus crashed about 150 miles southeast of Bishkek, said Nurman Tilimishev, a local police officer.

Baktybek Nuraliyev, a duty officer at the Emergency Ministry, said that firefighters at the site had confirmed 17 dead.

But Interfax news agency, citing the Kyrgyz Interior Ministry, put the death toll at 40, and said the 10 other people on board were injured.

It was unclear whether the bus was carrying Chinese or Kyrgyz nationals.

The manager of a bus terminal in Atushi, a Chinese town near the border with Kyrgyzstan, said a double-decker bus had been scheduled to leave Bishkek on Thursday morning en route to Atushi. She did not know the bus' status.